Fabric-relaxing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A fabric-relaxing apparatus wherein a continuous fabric drawn from a roll is led to the top of the receiving region of a main treating tank either directly or after it is passed through a liquid in a preparatory tank in a taut state, and at the main treating tank the fabric is delivered by shaking-off means positioned to effect a folding of the fabric essentially at the liquid level in the tank with each fold descending in the liquid in spaced relation to the next formed fold. The region, or vertical passage, through which the fabric descends is positioned within a vertical passage frame comprising two plates which are vibrated essentially out of contact with the fabric, and their vibration effects agitation or pulsation of the liquid, which in turn imparts beat shocks, i.e. pulsations, to the fabric. The fabric is then led out of the bottom of the vertical passage frame to one side of the main treating tank through a guide installed in the liquid and being then led out of the main treating tank through the opening in said guide, said fabric being then stacked as folded at a predetermined place outside the main treating tank.

United States Patent 72] lnventors Furnisato llasegawa KBhiwara-shi;liiroyuki Nagata, Hiroshima-shi, both of, Japan [21] Appl. No. 780,420{22] Filed Dec. 2, 1968 [45] Patented July 20,1971 [73 Assignee Hiram)Kinzoku Kabushiki Kaisha Osaka-511i, Japan [32] Priority Dec. 16, 1967 Jp [31] 42/105845 [54] FABRlC-RELAXING APPARATUS 5 Claims, 5 DrawingFigs.

[52] US. Cl 68/178 51 lm. Cl B05c 3 05, B05c 3/ 134 [50] Field ofSearch68/178 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,061,905 11/1962Schifiers et a1. 68/178 X 3,402,410 9/1968 Schumm et a1. 68/178 X OTHERREFERENCES Dungler: Berman Patent Specification No. Dl9828 VII/8a;published 10/56: copy in 68/178 (art unit 359).

Primary ExaminerRobert L. Bleutge Attorney-Hall & l-loughton a CT: Afabric-relaxing apparatus wherein a continuous fabric drawn from a rollis led to the top of the receiving region of a main treating tank eitherdirectly or after it is passed through a liquid in a preparatory tank ina taut state, and at the main treating tank the fabric is delivered byshaking-off means positioned to etfect a folding of the fabricessentially at the liquid level in the tank with each fold descending inthe liquid in spaced relation to the next formed fold. The region, orvertical passage, through which the fabric descends is positioned withina vertical passage frame comprising two plates which are vibratedessentially out of contact with the fabric, and their vibration effectsagitation or pulsation of the liquid, which in turn imparts beat shocks,i.e. pulsations, to the fabric. The fabric is then led out of the bottomof the vertical passage frame to one side of the main treating tankthrough a guide installed in the liquid and being then led out of themain treating tank through the opening in said guide, said fabric beingthen stacked as folded at a predetermined place outside the maintreating tank.

PATENTED 41120 I911 SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTORS M BY ATTORNEY PATENTED JUL20ism SHEET 2 OF 2 FUMISATO YASEGAWJ INVENTORS ATTORNEY FABRIC-RELAXINGAPPARATUS BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to afabric-relaxing apparatus which, in an apparatus for washingcontractable continuous fabrics with water, comprises a. a liquidcontaining main treating tank having a liquid I level therein,

b. means for shaking off continuous fabric, disposed above said liquidlevel, means for delivering downwardly through said shakingoff means aweb of fabric to be treated, said shaking-off means (b) being positionedto deliver the fabric to said liquid level and effect the folding of thefabric substantially at said liquid level, so that each fold may descendin the liquid into spaced relation to the liquid level as the next foldis formed essentially at said liquid level,

. vibratory wall means defining a vertical passage in said tank belowsaid liquid level, said vibratory wall means comprising (I) platesmounted to be movable toward and from each other and (2) means forvibrating said plates toward and from each other, said plates beingpositioned to be vibrated by said vibratory means essentially inlaterally spaced relation to the folds of fabric descending in thevertical passage between them so that the folded fabric descending inthe liquid will be subjected to treatment by the vibrationally agitatedliquid essentially without any mechanical working against the vibratingplates, and

f. means for removing fabric from the lower end of said vertical passageand delivering it from said tank,

g. said means (f) comprising (1) means for drawing off the fabric fromthe lower end of said vertical passage to a point of deliver outside thetank and (2) means defining a passage for guiding the drawn-off fabricas a straightening web from the lower end of said vertical passage to apoint above the liquid level of the tank. The object of the invention isto contract woven or knitted fabrics essentially of processed yarns asmuch as possible during washing and finishing processes in a mannerimparting bulkiness, stretchability and softness to the cloth andpreventing wrinkles, creases and irregularities in bulkiness.

Woven or knitted fabrics made of this kind of processed yarns areprepared by weaving or knitting processed yarns of long fiber such astextured yarns and are characterized by the stretchability and bulkinesspossessed by the textured yarns and superior softness, luster andhandling developed by the first-mentioned properties. Such oven fabricsare in extensive use, ranging from light textures including blouses andshirting to heavy textures including men's and ladies suiting andcoating, while the knitted fabrics are used for overcoats and the likehaving a heavy texture.

For the woven or knitted fabrics of this kind, it is, therefore, mostdesirable that in washingtreatment the stretchability latently possessedby textured yarns be fully developed in the woven or knitted cloth andthe treated product be improved in the so-called relaxation propertiesin including superior bulkiness, stretchability and softness.

Heretofore, washing treatment for relaxation has been effected by meansof the usual washer used, for example, by laundries, etc. In addition,the washer process is a process wherein a rotary drum bored with a largenumber of small holes around the periphery thereof and having vanescentrally extending at four to five places on the inner surface thereofis horizontally disposed in a treatment liquid in such a manner as toimmerse about one-third of the drum in the liquid and a yard-wound oryard-folded material to be treated put in a water-permeable bag is putin said drum and treated while it is being stirred and rolled within thedrum. In this case, however, a fabric, which is a body to be treated, ischarged into the drum in successive fixed quantities in a folded stateaccording to the capacity of the washer and beaten by means of a rotaryplate rotating in alternate directions to impart shocks to the body tobe treated thereby producing relaxation effect. Therefore, the body tobe treated cannot be continuously treated, so that the process islimited essentially to the treatment of lightweight fabrics ofrelatively light texture if it is desired to increase efficiency oftreatment. In addition, with such washer, the beating by the rotaryplate during treatment, the folded configuration or other factors bringabout an undesirable situation causing troubles in relaxation treatmentas wrinkles and folds occur in the material to be treated. Because ofthe aforesaid drawbacks, with the washer it is almost impossible totreat fabrics of heavy texture.

As another example, relaxation treatment is effected by passing a bodyto be treated through a water tank while nipping and passing it througha series of upper and lower rolls horizontally installed in said watertank and suitably vibrating these upper and lower rollers to impart theresulting vibrations to the material to be treated. In this case,although continuous treatment is possible, the material to be treatedtends to assume a tensioned state and since the material in such stateis treated by vibrations alone, the intended relaxation effect could notbe realized unless the time of treatment is prolonged. As a result, itbecomes necessary to prolong the period of passage and increase the sizeor number of treating tanks, thus involving disadvantages such as highcosts of installation. In addition, with such conventional relaxationtreatment, contractability may be achieved only to some extent, but nottoa greater extent enough to further improve the softness, luster, etc.,of the product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of arelaxing apparatus provided with a vertical passage frame employing asystem in which two plates are concurrently vibrated in oppositedirections with their lower ends as their respective fulcrums.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of a relaxing apparatus provided with avertical passage frame employing a system in which two plates areconcurrently vibrated in opposite directions and in a parallel state.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section of a relaxing apparatus provided withjet pipes for impregnating a body to be treated with a liquidimmediately before it is dropped into a vertical passage frame.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a vertical passage frame consisting oftwo plates adapted to be vibrated in opposite directions with theirlower ends as their respective fulcrums.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a vertical passage frame of a type inwhich two plates are vibrated in a parallel state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The arrangement of this inventionwill be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1-3 show a preparatory tank 1 and a main treating tank 2 disposedside by side on a frame 3. The preparatory tank 1 and the main treatingtank 2 are filled with hot water or boiling water 4 at 50l00 C. with orwithout detergent. The purpose of the preparatory tank 1 is to allow thewater to fully penetrate into a body to be treated 5 to allow no aircells to remain therein, thereby making effective the subsequenttreatment in the main treating tank 2. Further, the body to be treated 5is contracted to some extent during its travel in the preparatory tank.When a body which is highly water-absorptive is to be treated, thepreparatory tank may be omitted. In the case of a body which is moredifficult to treat for relaxation, two or more main treating tanks maybe installed side by side. In short, whether a preparatory tank isadditionally provided or two or more main treating tanks are used issuitably determined according to the quality of material and otherfacnet type, lattice type or other type of conveyor 6, is passed throughthe hot water 4 in the preparatory tank 1 in a taut state by means of aguide roll 7 and is conveyed to the top of the receiving region of themain treating tank by means of guide rolls 8, 9 and a net type, latticetype or other type of conveyor 10. Installed between the front end ofthe conveyor 10 and a vertical passage frame 11 provided in thereceiving region is shake-off means 15 consisting of a motor andreduction gear 12, crank mechanism [3, inducer 14 for bodies to betreated, etc. The continuously supplied body to be treated 5 is suppliedto the vertical passage frame 11 in a folded states by said shakeoffmeans. The temperature of the hot water in the main treating tank iscontrolled by heating means 16, 17 such as steampipes. Though not shownin the drawings, the temperature of the hot water in the preparatorytank is controlled by similar means. As shown in FIG. 4, the verticalpassage frame 1 l is constituted by a flat plate 18 and a plate 19 of U-shaped section with a width such that the flat plate 18 is just fittedtherein in such a manner that its upper and lower portions are open.

The vertical passage frame 11 shown in FIG. 4 is of the type in whichboth plates are vibrated in mutually opposite directions with lowerpivots 20 and 21 as their respective ful crums. The drive mechanismtherefor is as follows. U-shaped members 22 and 23 are rigidly securedto the outer side of both plates and eccentric cams 24 and 25 are fittedin the U- shaped recesses in said members. The eccentric carns 24 and 25are rigidly secured to shafts 26 and 27 journaled in the tank and thephases of eccentricity of the right and left eccentric cams 25 and 24are opposed. The shaft 26 and 27 are rotated in the same direction by amotor 28 through a reduction gear. When the eccentric cams are rotatedwithin the recesses in the members 22 and 23, both plates areconcurrently repeatedly vibrated in opposite direction with thepivots'20 and 21 as their respective fulcrums'and according to theamount of eccentricity. A vertical passage frame shown in FIG. 5 isanother embodiment and is of the type in which both plates 29, 30 areconcurrently repeatedly vibrated in opposite directions while remainingin a parallel state. The drive mechanism therefor is asfollows.Receiving members3l, 32 and 33, 34 for grasping eccentric cams arerigidly secured above and below to the outer side of both plates 29 and30, and eccentric earns 39, 40 and 41, 42 rigidly secured to shafts 35,36 and 37, 38 are fitted in the U-shaped recesses in said receivingmembers. Thus, both plates are held parallel to each other by the shafts35, 36 and 37, 38. The other arrangements are the same as in thevertical passage frame shown in FIG. 4.

Further, both plates of each of the vertical passage frames in FIGS. 4and 5 are porous plates with a sufiiciently high degree of porosity toprevent the hot water to be forced out through the'upper and loweropenings owing to the vibration of the plates. The body to be treatedsupplied in a folded state by the shake-off means 15 is passed from thevertical passage, through a passage 45 consisting of two upper and lowerguide plates 43 and 44 and it is drawn from the other side of the maintreating tank 2 to the outside of the tank by means of a guide roll 46and nip rollers 47 and 48.

The body to be treated which has been hydroextracted by the nip rollersis transferred by a net-type or lattice-type conveyor 49 to above atable 50 positioned outside the tank and is then stacked as folded onsaid table 50 by means of'shake-off means 51 positioned thereabove. FIG.I shows an apparatus using the vertical passage frame shown in FIG. 4,and FIG. 2 shows an apparatus using the vertical passage frame shown inFIG. 5.

FIG. 3 shows an apparatus wherein hot water jet pipes 52 and 53 open tothe inlet of the vertical passage frame are provided opposite to eachother on both sides of the shake-off means 15 and above the verticalpassage frame, whereby jet hot water is poured to the body to be treatedimmediately before it enters the vertical passage to render itimpregnated with water to some extent and increase the weight so thatthe body to be treated in a folded state may naturally descend withinthe vertical passage frame by its own weight.

The body to be treated leaving conveyor 6, in the course of its fall, isfirst passed through the shake-off means 15, where by the right and leftreciprocating movement of the shakingoff means it falls downwardly ontothe surface of the liquid while swinging right and left and is thussupplied into the liquid-filled vertical passage frame 11 in mutuallyspaced or open folds as indicated in the drawings. It enters the passage45 defined between the lower guide plate still in the same folded formas it'leaves the vertical frame 11 and the leading end thereof is heldbetween the nip rollers 47 and 48 and is thus pulled out of the tank.And it is folded up on the table outside the tank. In addition, in casethe body to be treated withdrawn from the main treating tank is supplieddirectly to a subsequent treating machine, e.g. dryer, the shaking-offmeans installed outside the tank is, of course, unnecessary.

Accordingv to this invention, a vertical passage frame for bodies to betreated constituted by two plates concurrently vibrating in oppositedirections and a passage constituted by two upper and lower guide platesare connected togetherand installed in hot water in a main treating tankand the two plates impart beat shocks to the opposed folded sides of afolded body to be treated thereby to vibrate the entire surface andsubsequently it is sinuously passed through the hot water; therefore,the body to be treated preliminarily contracted in the preparatory tankis subjected to treatment in an absolutely free liquid-supported stateessentially without being subjected to any external force frommechanical working against the vibrating plates such as tension andcompression during passage for treatment, so that it is continuouslytreated without producing wrinkles, folds, irregularities in bulkiness,etc., and, when passed through the vertical passage frame, it is desizedand cleaned and contracted, and moreover, the time of treatment in thismain treating tank is naturally prolonged and the entire surface isfully contacted with the vibrationally moving or pulsing treating waterto increase the relaxation effect.

Bodies treated by the present apparatus can be made a product which ishighly contractable and possesses a superior handling with the bulkinessand stretchability possessed by the constituent processed yarns fullydeveloped.

We claim:

1. Fabric-relaxing apparatus comprising in combination a. a liquidcontaining main treating tank having a liquid level therein,

b. means for shaking off continuous fabric disposed above said liquidlevel,

c. means for delivering downwardly through said shakingoff means a webof fabric to be treated,

d. said shaking-off means (b) being positioned to deliver the fabric tosaid liquid level and effect the folding of the fabric substantially atsaid liquid level, so that each fold may descend in the liquid intospaced relation to the liquid level as the next fold is formedessentially at said liquid level,

e. vibratory wall means defining a vertical passage in said tank belowsaid liquid level, said vibratory wall means comprising 1) platesmounted to be movable toward and from each other and (2) means forvibrating said plates toward and from each other, said plates beingpositioned to be vibrated by said vibrating means essentially inlaterally spaced relation to the folds of fabric descending in thevertical passage between them so that the folded fabric descending inthe liquid will be subjected to treat ment by the vibrationally agitatedliquid essentially without any mechanical working against the vibratinplates,

f. means for removing fabric from the lower end of said vertical passageand delivering it from said tank, and said means (f) comprising 1) meansfor drawing off the fabric from thelower end of said vertical passage toa point of delivery outside the tank and (2) means defining a passagefor guiding the drawn-off fabric as a straightening web from the lowerend of said vertical passage to a point above the liquid level of thetank.

and are engaged by said eccentric cam means between said liquid leveland said pivoted mountings.

5. Fabric-relaxing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plates(e) (l) are mounted for movement toward and away from each other inparallel relation, and are engaged by said eccentric cam means atvertically spaced positions below said liquid level.

1. Fabric-relaxing apparatus comprising in combination a. a liquidcontaining main treating tank having a liquid level therein, b. meansfor shaking off continuous fabric disposed above said liquid level, c.means for delivering downwardly through said shaking-off means a web offabric to be treated, d. said shaking-off means (b) being positioned todeliver the fabric to said liquid level and effect the folding of thefabric substantially at said liquid level, so that each fold may descendin the liquid into spaced relation to the liquid level as the next foldis formed essentially at said liquid level, e. vibratory wall meansdefining a vertical passage in said tank below said liquid level, saidvibratory wall means comprising (1) plates mounted to be movable towardand from each other and (2) means for vibrating said plates toward andfrom each other, said plates being positioned to be vibrated by saidvibrating means essentially in laterally spaced relation to the folds offabric descending in the vertical passage between them so that thefolded fabric descending in the liquid will be subjected to treatment bythe vibrationally agitated liquid essentially without any mechanicalworking against the vibrating plates, f. means for removing fabric fromthe lower end of said vertical passage and delivering it from said tank,and g. said means (f) comprising (1) means for drawing off the fabricfrom the lower end of said vertical passage to a point of deliveryoutside the tank and (2) means defining a passage for guiding thedrawn-off fabric as a straightening web from the lower end of saidvertical passage to a point above the liquid level of the tank. 2.Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means (g) (2) comprisesupper and lower fixed guide plates disposed below the liquid level insaid tank.
 3. Fabric-relaxing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe vibrating means (e) (2) for the plates (e) (1) comprises eccentriccam means engaged with said plates and located within the tank below theliquid level thereof.
 4. Fabric-relaxing apparatus as claimed in claim3, wherein the plates (e) (1) are pivotally mounted at their lower endsand are engaged by said eccentric cam means between said liquid leveland said pivoted mountings.
 5. Fabric-relaxing apparatus as claimed inclaim 3, wherein the plates (e) (1) are mounted for movement toward andaway from each other in parallel relation, and are engaged by saideccentric cam means at vertically spaced positions below said liquidlevel.